Does reduplication always place the front/close vowel before the back/open vowel?
5
I was looking up "seesaw" on Wiktionary
, and I noticed all their examples of ablaut reduplication "such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc." have "ee" or "i" in the first word, replaced by "o" or "a" in the second word:
- seesaw
- teeter-totter
- zigzag
- flip-flop
- ping pong
- sing-song
- kitty-cat
Is there a process by which this kind of reduplication that involves only a vowel change ensures that the first vowel is front/close and the second vowel is back/open?
reduplication productive-affixes
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
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show 8 more comments
5
I was looking up "seesaw" on Wiktionary
, and I noticed all their examples of ablaut reduplication "such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc." have "ee" or "i" in the first word, replaced by "o" or "a" in the second word:
- seesaw
- teeter-totter
- zigzag
- flip-flop
- ping pong
- sing-song
- kitty-cat
Is there a process by which this kind of reduplication that involves only a vowel change ensures that the first vowel is front/close and the second vowel is back/open?
reduplication productive-affixes
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
1
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
2
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
2
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday
|
show 8 more comments
5
5
5
I was looking up "seesaw" on Wiktionary
, and I noticed all their examples of ablaut reduplication "such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc." have "ee" or "i" in the first word, replaced by "o" or "a" in the second word:
- seesaw
- teeter-totter
- zigzag
- flip-flop
- ping pong
- sing-song
- kitty-cat
Is there a process by which this kind of reduplication that involves only a vowel change ensures that the first vowel is front/close and the second vowel is back/open?
reduplication productive-affixes
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
I was looking up "seesaw" on Wiktionary
, and I noticed all their examples of ablaut reduplication "such as teeter-totter, zigzag, flip-flop, ping pong, etc." have "ee" or "i" in the first word, replaced by "o" or "a" in the second word:
- seesaw
- teeter-totter
- zigzag
- flip-flop
- ping pong
- sing-song
- kitty-cat
Is there a process by which this kind of reduplication that involves only a vowel change ensures that the first vowel is front/close and the second vowel is back/open?
reduplication productive-affixes
reduplication productive-affixes
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
edited yesterday
Cascabel
7,84962756
7,84962756
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
asked yesterday
CJ DennisCJ Dennis
1,94641643
1,94641643
Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
1
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
2
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
2
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday
|
show 8 more comments
Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
1
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
2
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
2
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday
Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
1
1
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
2
2
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
2
2
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday
|
show 8 more comments
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Those examples are all ablaut reduplication. There are also rhyming and exact forms, among others. With the exception of schm, reduplication is generally fixed in form, and non-productive.
– Cascabel
yesterday
I suspect that it is a more or less universal preference of human beings rather than something unique to English. I was told that ping pong derived from the Chinese píngpàngchù rather than the other way around.
– BoldBen
yesterday
1
Related: crisscross, dillydally, riffraff, etc.
– tchrist♦
yesterday
2
Yes. High vowels come before low in reduplicated freezes, and front before back, generally speaking. These are two of the principles from Cooper and Ross, which should probably be absorbed before drawing any conclusions.
– John Lawler
yesterday
2
@Cascabel I think by adding the word "ablaut" you've made the question self-answering.
– CJ Dennis
yesterday